Open Enrollment: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
What you need and what you don’t.
Open enrollment is coming up for many employees. It’s the one time of year you can change your benefits elections without some sort of qualifying event.
Too many people just stick with what they’ve had for years, mainly because it’s easier.
Things in life change; so, too, should your benefits.
Health Insurance
Unless you have it elsewhere, you’d better get it. While the ACA’s penalty has disappeared (at the federal level), you can’t afford to pass on health insurance. Enormous medical expenses are the number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States. Get health insurance.
You may be faced with choices like HMO, POS, EPO, PPO, and HDHP.
You shouldn’t need special training to decode the alphabet soup of insurance.
HMO: Health Maintenance Organization. This is usually the lowest cost option. HMOs require you to select a primary care physician (PCP) to direct all aspects of your medical care. You’ll need his/her referral to see a specialist, who must also be in the plan’s network.
If you don’t mind coordinating care through one doctor and you don’t travel much (HMOs…
